Final thoughts for the evening…
- Shelly Goldstein just called to point out another notable omission from the "In Memoriam" montage: Sandra Dee. I know she only died last week but they could have included her if they'd made the effort.
- They cut Hilary Swank off in mid-acceptance speech but seemed to let Jamie Foxx go on as long as he wanted. I think the rule should be that you get 60 seconds unless you mention your agent, manager or lawyer, in which case you get 20.
- If someone tells you that it's unfair that Scorsese has never won, ask them just when he should have won and why that should affect this year. The Oscars are not a cumulative exercise. At least in theory, it's one competition at a time, and your past excellence does not make your current effort the Best Picture of the Year. He probably should have won for Taxi Driver (he wasn't nominated that year) but when he was up for Raging Bull, he was beaten by Robert Redford for Ordinary People, which was not an unworthy effort. I would have given it to him for Goodfellas over that year's winner, Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves…but that's history. They shouldn't not give it to Clint this year because Martin got swindled in 1990.
- And no matter what, he's still Martin Scorsese. Even without an Oscar, he's still honored, well-paid and able to make the movies he wants, pretty much the way he wants. In the pantheon of Great Injustices, this doesn't even make the top One Million. Besides, the way he's going, he still has time to either make a couple more Oscar-class movies…or at least win a Lew Wasserman look-alike contest.
- One thing the show lacks for me is a sense of "Old Hollywood" somewhere in there. If it were up to me, I'd have at least one award presented by someone who hasn't made a movie lately but used to be in a lot of them…say, Jerry Lewis or Elizabeth Taylor. As it is, we seem to only get the annual audience shot of Mickey Rooney.
- It was a very fast-moving Oscarcast…almost too fast in spots. I know people hate long acceptance speeches, especially from "nobodies." But that guy winning for Best Sound Production…you're seeing maybe the high moment in his life, and perhaps his first taste of true, meaningful recognition. Clint Eastwood has had plenty of honors…and even if he went home without an Oscar, he'd still be Clint Eastwood. I'd rather see the musical numbers trimmed and the time given over to letting the winners say a little more than that they thank everyone else who worked on the project and that they love their spouse.
- I thought Chris Rock did an okay job as host…better than Whoopi or Dave, not as good as Billy or Steve. Actually, as they increasingly streamline the show, the host becomes largely irrelevant after about the first half-hour. I expect that those who were looking to be outraged at the "Hollywood elite" showing its contempt for traditional values will pounce on the Bush jokes and condemn the whole broadcast. So they should be happy with it, even as they proclaim how much they hated it.
Well, that's it from Tinsel Town. I'm going back to working on a screenplay which will probably not be nominated…next year, or ever.